Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she has made of the potential merits of automatic split payment of universal credit payments to prevent domestic abuse.

We believe that most couples can and want to manage their finances jointly without state intervention. However, we recognise that there are circumstances in which split payments are appropriate. Where this is the case, split payments are available on request. Both members of a couple do not need to be present to arrange a split payment and consent is not required from the other partner to authorise a split payment. Claimants can request a split payment during a face to face meeting, a phone call, or online via their journal and do not have to provide evidence of abuse in order to be granted a split payment.

Not all individuals who are suffering domestic abuse will want a split payment and we work with claimants on an individual basis to provide support that fits with their individual circumstances. Work coaches receive training on domestic abuse and we provide all the support we can when an individual discloses they are suffering from domestic abuse, including signposting them to third party professionals who can provide additional expert advice and support.

We continue to work closely with the Scottish Government to support the development and implementation of their split payment policy, and will observe the implementation of split payments in Scotland further to understand the impacts of such a policy.